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0V. A. Medintsev
Methodological problems with defining the concept of psychological property
A U T H O R
Annotation. The concept of "psychological property" is one of the most important in psychology, however, its interpretations and vocabulary descriptions form "terminological circle", which seems to be a methodological problem that is need to resolve. One of the possible solutions can be a description of the property as a relationship, based on the idea of AE . Ujomov about the relationship as a particular case of the property. The article suggests the interpretation of the psychological property as the expressed in the indices of a certain scale of the relationship of the object and other components of the research structure. The structure consists of the object of research, the researcher, the methodological and subject tools.
Keywords: property, attribute, characteristic, factor, relation, research structure, interaction .
Citation: Medintsev V. A. Methodological problems with defining the concept of psychological property. Теоретичш docni-дження у психологи: мoнoграфiчна cерiя. Том 20. 2024. С. 12-18. doi: 10.24412/2616-6860-2024-1-12-18.
The main content of a significant part of scientific, including psychological, research, as is known, is the identification and description of the properties of the subject of research. There are linguistic differences in the designation of the concept of "property", however, even within the same linguistic tradition and scientific discipline, the content included in this concept can differ significantly. No less significant is that in philosophy and other scientific disciplines, definitions of "property" form a "terminological circle". I will give examples (emphasis on V.M.'s words ). "The category " property " is a generic concept in the system of attributes of matter" (Lukyanov, 1982, p. 89). " An attribute (from the Latin attribuo - I give, I endow) is a necessary, essential property of an object" (Philosophy, 2004). Thus, properties are generalized attributes, and attributes are essential properties. There is another, very common, terminological configuration. "Property (Greek idion ; Lat. proprium ) - something that is inherent in a person. the subject and characterizes it in itself <....>" ( ibid. ). « Property - a characteristic of an object (category of its quality), which determines its appearance, type, behavior, etc." (Novoselov, 2010). The last two formulations contain a reference to the meaning of the word "characteristic", one of the typical dictionary definitions of which is the following: " Characteristic, <...> 1) a description
of the totality of distinctive properties of someone or something... " (Foreign Dictionary, 2014). In this case, the "terminological circle" is as follows: a property is a characteristic, a characteristic is a property.
In dictionary entries and texts, including psychological ones, the concept of "property" is also defined by the words "attribute", "side", "features", etc. Without going into details, I note that in the English-language scientific tradition the situation with the content of the concept "property" " the same. For example, in one authoritative contemporary philosophical encyclopedia we find: "Properties (also called "attributes", "qualities", "features", "characteristics", "types") are entities that can be predicates of things or, in other words, are attributed to them "(translation by V.M. ) ( Properties , 2018). Here the list of synonyms can serve as confirmation of the vagueness of the concept.
It is known that in philosophical logic they use a more strict definition of a property as a one-place predicate, and therefore the logic of one-place predicates ( syllogistics ) is essentially the logic of property (Novoselov, 2010). Moreover, each property defines a set of objects that have this property, and a significant addition to this interpretation is the understanding of the limited nature of the expressive means of any formal theory that uses only the
language of properties and does not use language models to express relations (ibid.). The relationships in question can be identified, in particular, based on the interpretation that is substantially similar to the above, according to which " property is a philosophical category to designate the inherent ability of objective reality to detect certain aspects in the processes of interconnection and interaction. "(Lukyanov, 1982, p. 77). As we can see, the concept of "property" here is associated with the concepts of "relationship" and "interaction".
In his famous work ( Uyomov , 1963) A.E. Uyomov identifies two most common interpretations of the concept "property". In the first of them, a property is considered the boundary of a given thing; with its disappearance, this thing turns into another. Such properties are also considered qualities of things - their essential properties, that is, quality is one of the properties. In the second interpretation, a property is not considered as the boundary of a thing, then they mean many properties of one thing ("We will simply call them properties," writes the author / ibid., p. 39/). In the scientific literature there are many examples of how properties are attributed to the properties themselves; in this regard, A.E. Uyomov refers to the concept of " properties of properties ". Similar to such second-order properties, properties of higher orders are also possible - in algebra this
is expressed in derivatives of higher orders. The relationship (of things), believes A.E. Uyomov , fully satisfies the definition of a property and can be considered a special case of a property. What distinguishes it from other properties is that the thing that the relation characterizes is considered in its diversity as a system of elements, each of which presupposes the others ("This is unity considered as multiplicity." /ibid., p. 59/). An attitude as a thing can be characterized by certain properties. How the properties of relationships are expressed in language by nouns: struggle, friendship, equality, inequality, etc. In psychology, relationships are also often expressed by nouns, for example: affection, love, sympathy, antipathy, hostility, enmity, etc.
The concept of "property" is part of the well-known triad of phenomena studied in psychology, along with processes and states, while the vagueness of its content leads to logically unclear formulations - for example, in the same psychology textbook you can see sections "Basic properties and characteristics of sensations" " and " Basic characteristics of the properties of attention " . The source of such terminological vagueness is, among other things, dictionary definitions of the concepts "psychological properties" and "mental properties", in which - in one configuration or another - part of the "terminological
circle" discussed above is reproduced. It should also be noted that in psychology, as in other sciences, the concept of "property" is given additional content, namely, the stability of its manifestations. For example, "mental property" is defined as: "A category indicating a certain stability of known mental manifestations inherent in an individual, their predominance in his mental activity, consolidation and repetition in the structure of the personality." ( Bleicher , Kruk , 1995, p. 263).
Is there a way out of this "terminological circle", and is it possible to move to a clearer description of the property? I think it is productive to search for such a way out in various theoretical and methodological directions. Let's consider one of the possible options, which is to use the above interpretation of properties as the ability to manifest themselves in processes of interconnection and interaction , as well as a content-related statement by A.E. Uyomov that the concept of "relationship of things" can be considered a special case of property . The relationships of things can be established in the processes of their interaction within the framework of a certain research structure . If we follow the ideas established in scientific knowledge that the implementation of measurement procedures causes changes in the subject being measured, then the composition of the research structure , in general, should
take into account the researcher, the subject of research and the tools used (methodological and subject). When carrying out measurements, changes occur in this structure, in the general case, in all its components, and these changes reveal the relationships of the latter. If there is reason to neglect changes in other components of the specified structure (i.e., their relationships), then we can assume that changes in the subject of study , expressed in units of any measurement scale, are its properties manifested in a given measurement procedure. Using various measurement procedures, it is possible to detect various properties of the subject of research, which can then be compared, grouped, and ranked. However, it should be taken into account that, strictly speaking, the obtained result has a logical and methodological meaning only within the framework of a certain research structure and the terminology used in it.
As is known, the measurement of the properties of the subject of research in psychology is carried out by using standardized and proprietary psychodiagnostic methods. However, the term "property" is not always used. For example, in the definition of psychodiagnostics given by L.F. Burlachuk , we read: "Psychodiagnostics is a field of psychological science that develops the theory, principles and tools for assessing and measuring individual psychological characteristics personality, as well as variables
of the social environment in which the individual's life activities take place." ( Burlachuk , 2008, p. 116). Here the word "features" is presumably used to replace the concept of "properties", and in this work it is used many times. I note that in the same text the author refers to S.L. Rubinstein: " S.L. Rubinstein at one time very accurately pointed out that the mental properties of a person form two main groups: characterological properties and abilities . The first group of properties is associated with incentive (motivational) regulation of behavior, and the second ensures organization and execution." (italics by V.M. ) (ibid., p. 123). As we see , S.R. Rubinstein used the term "property"; he spoke more clearly. I will also note that the understanding of psychological abilities as properties is essentially a concretization of philosophical interpretations of properties, in which they are defined as the ability to reveal certain aspects of oneself (see above).
It is worth noting a number of methodological points related to the concept of "property" in psychology. Among the terms used to denote properties, one can see both universal ones (used in other scientific practices) and specific ones. As a rule, when indicating the properties of the subject of research, both types are used, but in different proportions. For example, the concept of "attention" is defined in many sources as an independent mental process,
the main properties of which are stability, concentration, distribution, switching, distractibility and volume. It may be noted that the term "sustainability" is rooted in physics and engineering disciplines; "concentration" - in chemistry; volume - in mathematics; "distribution" and "switching" -in mathematics and engineering. Accordingly, the measurement of these properties in attention studies is, to one degree or another, associated with methods of extra-psychological practices. And only "distractibility" can be considered a purely psychological term.
As another example, consider the subscales of the questionnaire "Methods of coping behavior" ( Lazarus test ) (Kryukova, 2007). This standard method is used to measure the level of intensity of confrontational coping in general and for its individual strategies in accordance with the identified subscales : confrontational coping, distancing , self-control, seeking social support, accepting responsibility, escape-avoidance, problem solving planning, positive reappraisal. Here, the terms listed above denote the components of the "voltage levels" property. Although the term "stress" is used in physical and engineering sciences, its content in relation to subscales is presented in psychological terms. The exceptions are " distancing " and "planning" - these terms are also used in other scientific practices.
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Speaking about the concept of "property" in psychology, it is also worth paying attention to at least one concept close to it in meaning. A number of psychological theories and psychometric methods use the term and concept "factor" in its two main meanings: a general designation of what has an impact (for example, factors that determine answers to test questions); mathematical procedures of factor analysis. In addition, in mathematics factors are also called factors in a product (the more factors, the more factors). With the help of factor analysis , as is known, some measurements are isolated from an array of data - they are considered factors - and factor analysis is a method of reducing the dimension of the multidimensional phenomenon being studied. Since each element of the data array is the result of measurements, that is, one of the predicates of the subject of research - one of its properties, then as a result of factor analysis the researcher receives "properties of properties" (the first derivative of properties, according to A.E. Uyomov ). One can look at factors in a hierarchical theory of intelligence in a similar way, including finding a "general factor" (i.e., a higher-order "property of properties"). In this regard, it should be noted that among theories of intelligence there are those in which factor analysis is not used as a means of developing a theoretically based description of intelligence; the concept of "factor" here has
a different meaning. For example, the author considers the factors identified by J. Guilford in his model of intelligence to be independent, that is, he uses the term "factor" to designate a certain set, so to speak, specializations in the work of intelligence (this has a certain similarity with one of the meanings of factors as factors of a mathematical product, regardless of their value , see above). Thus, we can note significant differences in the use and interpretation of the concept of "factor" in psychology. I believe that a clearer definition of the concept of "property" would contribute to a more specific interpretation of the concept of "factor".
Earlier, presenting a description of the integrative-personal approach, G.A. and I. Ball wrote (based on the ideas of A.E. Uyomov ) that the difference between properties and qualities is relative, since it is possible to establish the presence of a certain property in an object and measure it only thanks to certain relationships between the object under consideration and other objects (Ball, Medintsev, 2010) . When identifying a property of an object, you can forget about how it was established, abstract from the manifestation of this property in the relationship between this and other objects, but when fixing the quality of an object, you should take into account the basis on which relationship it is considered. In this methodological context, we proposed a definition of personality as that
quality of a human individual that allows him to be a research structure includes the subject of research, the
relatively autonomous and individually unique subject of researcher, methodological and subject tools).
culture. Now, taking into account the material presented The proposed interpretation of the concept of
above, the general methodological principle of this "psychological property," of course, should be considered as
approach can be used in the interpretation of the one of the possible options, which can subsequently be
psychological property , namely, as expressed in terms of some improved or rejected. But in any case, it makes sense to look
scale of the relationship between the subject of psychological for an optimal solution to the problem outlined. research and other components of the research structure (the
References
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